Ludogorets U13 finish fifth at the tournament in Thessaloniki

Ludogorets U13 secured fifth place in the prestigious youth tournament “Panagiotis Katsouris”, held in Thessaloniki. The team from Razgrad earned a spot among the best eight teams, competing against a total of 24 participants. For the young “Eagles”, this was also their first appearance in an international tournament.

On the second day of the competition, Ludogorets U13 started with a goalless draw against Malmo FF (Sweden). Ludogorets were the more active side on the pitch and created several clear chances, but failed to convert them.

In their second match, Ludogorets U13 lost 0:2 to Benfica (Portugal), who later went on to win the tournament title.

In the third and decisive match, Ludogorets U13 were defeated 1:2 by Eintracht Frankfurt, despite leading until the 80th minute. David Tuchev opened the scoring after a cross from the left by Kris Tevia, but in the closing stages Eintracht first equalised and then scored the winning goal.

In the match for fifth place, Ludogorets U13 faced FK Partizan (Belgrade). After a goalless draw in regular time and a missed penalty, the “Eagles” showed character and won 5:3 in the penalty shootout. The successful penalty takers were Martin Savchev, Yoan Hadzhiev, Martin Ivanov, Kristiyan Dinchev, and Daniel Dimitrov.

In the final standings, Benfica took first place, PAOK finished second, and Eintracht came third. Porto ended in fourth place, while Ludogorets U13 finished fifth, ahead of strong opponents such as Feyenoord, Partizan, Malmö, Bochum, Oxford, and others.

“We are very satisfied with the boys. They showed character, quality, and that we can compete with some of the strongest academies in Europe. We played against eight different opponents with different playing styles and training methods, which is invaluable experience for these young players,” commented Ludogorets U13 head coach Svetlin Ivanov.